[Himachal GK] Malana considered one of the first democracies in the world

Malana, Himachal Pradesh: Malana is considered to be one of the first democracies in the world. Location in Himachal Pradesh, India Coordinates: 32.0626008°N 77.2603548°ECoordinates: 32.0626008°N 77.2603548°E Country India State Himachal Pradesh Languages - Official Hindi

Pic : Way to Malana

Malana is an ancient Indian village in the state of Himachal Pradesh.
This solitary village in the Malana Nala, a side valley of the Parvati
Valley to the north-east of Kullu Valley, is isolated from the rest of
the world. The majestic peaks of Chandrakhani and Deotibba shadow the
village. It is situated on a remote plateau by the side of the
torrential Malana river, at a height of 3,029 metres (9,938 ft) above
sea level. Unaffected by modern civilisation, Malana has its own
lifestyle and social structure. People are strict in following their
customs. Malana has been the subject of various documentaries, Malana has a history and it goes back to Jamlu rishi (sage) who
inhabited this place and made rules and regulations. It is one of the
oldest democracies of the world with a well organized parliamentary
system. All of this is guided by the their devta (deity) Jamlu rishi.
Although Jamlu is currently identified with a sage from the Puranas,
this is a relatively recent development. Jamlu is believed to have been
worshipped in pre-Aryan times.

Pic : Malana VillageMalana is considered to be one of
the first democracies in the world. According to tradition, the
residents of Malana are the descendant of Aryans and they acquired their
independence during the Mughal reign when the Emperor Akbar walked to
the village in order to cure an ailment that he was afflicted with after
having been successfully cured he put out an edict stating that all the
inhabitants of the valley would never be required to pay tax. An
alternative tradition suggests that Malana was founded by remnants of
Alexander the Great's Army.A dam project, the Malana Hydro Power
Station, has brought Malana much closer to the rest of the world and
provides revenue for the region. A new road has shortened the walking
time from several days to just 4 hours. The Hydro Malana Project has
also ruined the beauty of the valley. In 2004, Malana was adopted by
Aryan Sharma, a businessman based in Delhi. Language : The
residents of Malana speak Kanashi/Raksh (supposedly the dialect of
devils residing there long ago), which is understood only by the
villagers. "Kanashi, the language of Malana, does not resemble any of
the dialects spoken in its neighbourhood but seems to be a mixture of
Sanskrit and several Tibetan dialects. Culture and lifestyle : The village administration is democratic and is believed, by locals, to be the oldest republic of the world. The social structure of Malana in fact rests on villagers' unshaken
faith in their powerful deity, Jamblu Devta. The entire administration
of the village is controlled by him through a village council. This
council has eleven members and they are believed as delegates of Jamblu
who govern the village in his name. His decision is ultimate in any
dispute and any outsider authority is never required. Thus Malana has
been named the Athens of Himalayas. Malanis (the inhabitants of
Malana) admire their culture, customs and religious beliefs. They
generally do not like to change though some traces of modernization are
visible. People in Malana consider all non-Malani to be inferior and
consequently untouchable. Visitors to Malana town must pay particular
attention to stick to the prescribed paths and not to touch any of the
walls, houses or people there. If this does occur, visitors are expected
to pay a forfeit sum, that will cover the sacrificial slaughter of a
lamb in order purify the object that has been made impure. The visitors
are also made to sign a letter of consent stating that anything that
happens in the village of Malana shall be sorted by the village
administration and no other jurisdiction can intervene in the process.
Malani people may touch impure people or houses as long as they follow
the prescribed purification ritual before they enter their house or
before they eat. Malanis may never accept food cooked by a non-Malani
person, unless they are out of the valley (in which case their Devta
can't see them). Malanis may offer visitors food but all utensils will
have to undergo a strict purification ritual before they can be used
again. This is also seen as a technique used by the people of Malana to
protect their vested interest in the hashish manufacture / marijuana
fields in the mountains above their village, since Malana Cream and
other popular, yet costly varieties of the drug come from this part of
India alone.

Despite being a part of the Kullu valley, there is a
myth that the Malanis have very distinct physical features, and a
dialect which is different from the rest of the valley. There are
various legends about their origin. According to one of them, it is
believed that they are the descendants of Greek soldiers of Alexander's
army. As the legend goes, some soldiers took refuge in this remote land
after Alexander left the country and later settled there permanently.
This myth is however disputed because there are those who claim that it
is the valley of Kalash, in Pakistan that is actually the area in which
Alexander the Great's soldiers took refuge. This legend is also
inconsistent with the legendary descent of the local people from
Indo-Aryans who would pre-date Alexander the Great's soldiers by
approximately a thousand years. Recent genetic typing of the Malani
population is more consistent with an Indo-Aryan origin with a large
proportion of Y-DNA haplotypes J2 and R1a associated with Indo-Aryan
influences in South Asia than with a Greek origin which would have a
different characteristic mix of Y-DNA haplotypes.

According to
authentic sources, the legend of the greek origin cames from the
Malanese people having a lower-house and upper-house system. This system
was observed by someone who co-related this system with the system of
governance followed in Greece, and hence formed the legend. Their
language is called Hamskad and is the native language of Kinnore.